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With the myriad of options available today in digital technology,
how could publishers be so far behind agencies in automating
their digital business? Agencies have stopped the bleeding and
taken a major step forward. They’ve begun building central
repositories for data and hired PhDs and mathematicians to create
sophisticated models and dashboards for running their
businesses.

Many publishers, however, are still living in the dark ages. I've
been speaking with publishers for the last four plus years about
selling smarter, leveraging proprietary data to create
differentiation, consolidating tech platforms and, most
importantly, hiring experienced, data-driven thinkers to act as
change agents for their business. I’m surprised, on a
regular basis, to find publishers who have not seized the
opportunity to advance and automate their digital businesses.
Admittedly, this type of change is scary and very foreign to most
publishing professionals, especially those at the top. But with
great change and risk, usually comes great reward.

I recently met with a publisher to discuss their technology stack
and business operations, and was appalled at what I
discovered: four different ad servers, no data partners,
zero dashboards (other than a handmade spreadsheet) and little
visibility into their sales pipeline, inventory needs or their
current market value. With no consolidation of reporting across
systems, even the actual delivery of ad campaigns was
uncertain.

This situation is unfortunately not an anomaly. Many publishers
in our industry are in a similar state. They are what I
affectionately refer to as: a mess of 'bailing wire and duct
tape'. It is easy to see how they got here. Many publishers
underinvested in their digital operations in the 2000's and in
recent years have needed to quickly add functionality to support
new devices and advertiser requirements. Additionally, the large
suppliers of ad tech were slow to adopt new technology to help
their clients adapt to the rapidly changing demands of
buyers.

The good news is that there are now a few technology players that
have made major changes to their platforms, building, buying or
partnering to address all the needs of buyers and sellers --
driving efficiency, capabilities and revenue to publishers.
Making the change need not be painful or full of risk for
publishers. With the right partner, the reward will far
outweigh the time it takes to get there.

And so… I encourage every publisher to take a step back, evaluate
their ad tech stack and honestly ask themselves, "In this rapidly
changing environment, is our business as efficient and forward
looking at it could be?” If the answer is No, rip off the
Band-Aid and start looking for a single partner that can and will
help you evolve to meet today's digital ad needs.

The views expressed here reflect the views of the author
alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of 24/7 Media,
its affiliates, subsidiaries or its parent company, WPP plc.